Breaking Point
by Livyloozer
Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Even really patient people will reach their limit occasionally and then just snap. This can be a good thing because sometimes, the moment you snap due to being patient about something for far too long, turns out to be the moment when you finally get some answers once and for all. 3 years post-TJM (age 13).
1. Enough

**A/N: Hi peoples! No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth…well technically I have since that's basically the same as graduate school…I am now one-thirds done with it and miraculously I am still standing. Anyways, no, I have not forgotten about my current fanfic ("The Wall Knows All"). I'm kind of going through a little writer's block with the next chapter. I don't know. But in the meantime, this idea randomly popped into my head a few days ago and since I'm currently on break until next week when I start summer classes (ugh), no time like the present, right?**

 **This story is different from the others I've written because it's not modeled after an episode. I was going to give a little background info here but now that I think about it, the way I wrote the dialogue makes it all pretty self-explanatory. This started out as a one-shot but I decided to spread it out a bit for a few reasons. Basically, I wanted to have it finished before I started summer classes tomorrow but that's not happening. However, I still wanted to post something now since I'm close to finishing it. I know it's pretty crazy of me to start a new project while I'm still working on another but…well, I am crazy! Seriously though, this won't take me as long to finish and it's a shorter story.**

 **Haven't done this in a while…: I MAY HAVE WRITTEN THIS STORY AND YES, THAT IS MINE BUT THE ACTUAL SHOW "HEY ARNOLD!", IN WHICH THE CHARACTERS AND OTHER STUFF IN MY STORY WERE TAKEN FROM, IS NOT MINE, HAS NEVER BEEN MINE, AND NEVER WILL BE MINE…GLAD WE CLEARED THAT UP!**

Breaking Point

Part 1: Enough

 _Helga began to ascend the boarding house stairs all the way up to Arnold's room. That day they planned for Helga to come over so the two of them could 'do their homework together'. In practically no time at all, though to Helga it felt more like an eternity, Helga was in front of Arnold's bedroom door. She opened it and walked in and found Arnold peered over his desk in concentration. 'He's so adorable when he does that,' she thought to herself. As soon as Helga closed the door behind her though, Arnold's focus on his homework was broken and suddenly something else, or rather someone, had his undivided attention. He gave a broad and loving smile as he walked over to her to greet her._

 _"Helga, my love, my one and only, my sole reason for living," Arnold greeted as he took one of her hands, placed it up to his lips, and kissed it softly. Arnold loved to do that because it always made Helga's cheeks turn scarlet and every time she attempted to hide her face from him, like she was doing in that moment. 'She's so adorable when she does that,' he thought to himself. After a few moments, Helga removed her hands from her face and then took his hands in hers as she gazed at him lovingly._

 _"Wow, that's quite the introduction, my sweet prince. You sure are a quick study and I think you've hanging around me too much!" Helga smirked as she looked into her boyfriend's eyes with adoration. She was loving every moment of this and she loved it every time they did this sort of whenever they greeted the other._

 _"Nonsense! No amount of time is enough, my precious darling, whose eyes can be both soothing and dangerous as the ocean waters," Arnold reasoned, half-jokingly and half-lovesick-like as he stared into her eyes._

 _"What a coincidence! Because I think your eyes are like two emerald pools that I want to bathe in," Helga mimicked the same lovesick look that Arnold was giving her. She also leaned in a bit to get a better look at his 'emerald pools'._

 _"I love it when you quote one of your own poems, how you remember every line I mean," Arnold stated, in awe of his Helga whenever she did that._

 _"Why of course, my Arnold," she answered sweetly. Before continuing, she playfully ruffled his hair, the same hair she often referred to as 'cornflower'._

 _"Of course, I remember. Every line from every poem is everything I have ever felt. They are each as constant as the blood running through my veins. And until the end of my days and even beyond that, they will continue to remain constant," Helga vowed genuinely, her gaze was soft but steady and unfaltering. Arnold was in awe at how Helga could master that kind of gaze. 'My talented love,' he thought with a light, internal chuckle._

 _"Oh, Helga," he then drew his beloved into a warm embrace. This only lasted for a few seconds since a certain thought that had been bothering Arnold for some time had just reentered his mind, which caused him to pull back and give Helga a look of concern. As a result, Helga immediately responded with a look of curiosity and puzzlement._

 _"My darling Helga, forgive me for taking so long to figure out my true feelings but not only that but for also lying to you and hurting you the way I did," Arnold's expression became solemn and his gaze grew more desperate as he waited for his Helga's response._

 _"Oh, my sweet and wonderful love, it has already been forgotten. After all, we're together now," Helga assured him and then she felt it was her turn to lift up his hands and kiss them. This definitely put Arnold at ease, but something was still troubling him a little bit._

 _"True, but sometimes the fact that it took me so long because of my denseness and stubbornness really annoys me…" Arnold looked down as he trailed off, an annoyed clearly painted across his face._

 _"Why?" Helga asked, perplexed that Arnold was dwelling on this because after all it was ancient history as far as Helga was concerned._

 _"Because that was time that I could've spent being with you…" Arnold explained rather glumly, which almost sounded like he was whining, at least a little bit. Everything then started to click with Helga. It took nearly everything she had to keep herself from busting into fits of laughter. 'My silly, sweet, sentimental, Arnold,' Helga thought. And even though she knew that there was no way that she could love Arnold any more than she already did, if it was even possible then she was certain that that would do the trick._

 _"Well if you put it that way…you're right and that's all your fault," she gave a playful smirk and then winked at her beloved. He chuckled in response._

 _"But," she added, "now we have the rest of our lives for you to make that up to me," she stated rather flirtatiously. She then let go of his hands and stepped back a few steps as a way to toy with Arnold a bit so he would have to come to her. It worked every time._

 _"Oh, Helga…" Arnold said her name in a sigh, as he responded to Helga's little invitation of sorts and then began to bridge the gap between them._

 _"Arnold…" Helga also replied with a sigh as he inched closer to her. Her eyes began to close and she felt his arms wrap around her waist, to which she reciprocated the action with her own arms draped around his shoulders. The faces of the two teens got closer and closer until…_

…...

"Helga? Hey Helga? Helga!"

"What?! Huh? What?" Helga, who up until a few seconds ago was dozing in class, was suddenly awake at that moment and was scanning the room. She looked around out of slight fear and confusion, feelings that started out as dull due to that fact that she had just woke up. But those feelings quickly intensified a bit and then subsided the moment she was able to fully process her surroundings and memories from earlier that day.

'Ugh...criminy…I fell asleep during class…and by the looks of it, I slept through the final bell,' Helga thought to herself in observation after taking in the empty classroom, which she last remembered it as being full of her classmates.

'This is all Olga's fault. She kept me up nearly the whole night because she just _had to bond with her baby sister_. She's lucky I'm too tired to deck her…Every time she comes home to visit she feels the need to play catch-up with me or whatever, which honestly I don't mind much but she's been laying it on a little thick lately, well thicker than usual and this has been her routine ever since we apparently _bonded_ so well in…' Helga trailed off and sighed before finishing that thought. She had unknowingly allowed this little rant to lead her to opening up some rather painful memories.

'Since San Lorenzo…' Helga completed the original thought and rather glumly.

'Well, now I've done it. I reminded myself yet again of that and now I gotta do what I gotta do just to get it out of my system…' Helga added to herself as she reluctantly and begrudgingly shoved a hand into the front pocket of her jeans to get something.

'It's funny,' Helga observed darkly to something that actually was not very funny at all, 'how I used to do this with love and adoration but now when I do this the feelings that surround me are so contradicting. I still feel the need to basically _proclaim my love to a picture_ but now I see how worthless and stupid it is after everything that has happened and yet I can't stop it. It's bad enough that I still dream about him but what's worse is that all those dreams are happy and wonderful and…not real and afterwards I have to remind myself that it never happened and I have to cope with that fact again and it's enough to make me want to-'

"Um…Helga?"

Helga still had her hand in her pocket when a voice suddenly brought all her thoughts to a halt. This was a fortunate thing for Helga because the object she was trying to get out of her pocket and the owner of that voice were related. After remembering that she had in fact been woken up by someone and then realized that they were still there, and not just anyone, ' _Him_ ' Helga thought, the hand that Helga had in her pocket froze and was clenching the heart-shaped locket she had originally planned to pull out and proclaim her love and anguish to the picture taking up real estate in her locket for the umpteenth time. Helga then turned her head to the direction of where the voice came from and sure enough there was Arnold standing in front of Helga with a concerned look on his face.

'Well, it looks like it's time for one of my favorite past times, taking my frustrations out on the football head. It's also funny that I used to hate doing this but now I actually kind of like it. I feel like he deserves this for what he did to me,' Helga thought as she prepared to let Arnold have it.

"What are you doing peering over me like that, you little creep?" Helga questioned Arnold, or rather spat that question at him, as she got up from her desk and collected her books to slip them into her backpack. Arnold appeared to be unfazed by Helga's reaction, like he was expecting that.

"Sorry, Helga. I just wanted to make sure you were awake before the janitor locked up the school. You must've fallen asleep during-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Helga interrupted while opening and closing her hand in a way that mimicked a mouth moving and then she waved her hand dismissively. That was one of her signatures. "What I do is my own business and yet here you are butting in again with the same old generic 'do-gooder' routine of yours and-"

"Enough!" Arnold snapped, in more ways than one because not only had he interrupted Helga but both the action and his evident annoyance were also very out of character for him.

"What…?" Helga asked in some kind of confused daze. Arnold's outburst had momentarily distracted Helga from her ranting and she honestly did not know what to think of think of this.

"That's enough, Helga! I'm sick of this!" Arnold continued with this out-of-character attitude, obviously not backing down from this. It seemed that after years of taking Helga's verbal abuse, Arnold had finally reached his breaking point. Unfortunately, this was enough to bring Helga back from her little daze and she suddenly matched Arnold's annoyed expression with one of anger.

'Oh great, Arnold finally grew a backbone. I am really not in the mood for this but I can't just stand here and take this…' Helga reasoned with herself.

 **A/N: Well, that's part 1! The next part should be up soon! Hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for "The Wall Knows All"! Though I have no idea when I'll have time to finish, I do plan to finish. And I greatly appreciate everyone's patience!**


	2. Confrontation

**A/N: I was having trouble deciding where part 1 would end and part 2 would begin. The way I split it up seemed like the least awkward and left a little bit of cliffhanger in a way. And speaking of which, here's part 2…right after these messages!**

 **Ugh…must I really do this again? We all know by now that "Hey Arnold!" is not mine but ok, fine: WHAT I SAID EARLIER IS TRUE, THAT "HEY ARNOLD!" IS NOT MINE THOUGH THE STORY IDEA IS.**

Breaking Point

Part 2: Confrontation

"Who do you think you are suddenly talking to me like that?" Helga spat.

"Who do _you_ think _you_ are always treating me like this?" Arnold countered right back.

"What?!" Helga exclaimed both out of shock and anger. She was now staring down Arnold with her clenched fists at her side. In the past she only clenched her fists like that just for show but after all that has happened in the last 3 years, Helga actually had been entertaining the idea of just knocking him into the next century. And as if Arnold could sort of sense that, this little confrontational attitude of his suddenly collapsed and he seemed like he was back to his old self.

"Uh…I mean…Helga, everyone's gone so you don't have to pretend now…?" Arnold answered unsurely, struggling to articulate something that would perfectly excuse his actions but deep down he knew that there was nothing he could do to get him out of the mess he just got himself into.

"Nice try. You can't take that back and now I know how ya really feel. And who said I was pretending?" Helga replied dryly while crossing her arms and giving him a dark smirk. Her expression clearly showed that she was not amused. For some reason, Helga's response caused Arnold to find the strength to confront her and pick up where he left off.

"Yeah, you do and now that I think about it, that's probably not a bad thing because I'm sick of this act of yours. It has been going on for too long!" Arnold answered rather accusingly. He was basically fed up with Helga's routine and just wanted the two of them to talk like human beings, though he knew that would not be easy but he also knew he let this go on for long enough. It's true that Arnold was not the most perceptive individuals but the fact that Helga had been more verbally combative towards him the last couple of years was not lost towards him. He also had this suspicion that he was the reason for this but he wanted to be sure first.

"How do you know it's not an act anymore?" Helga retorted back with her arms still crossed.

"Helga, come on! It's been 4 years since you confessed your love to me when we were 9 and you've been pretending to hate me ever since we met when we were 3, _and_ you have kept up this charade even after I told you I felt the same 3 years ago,"

"Wow you remembered something Arnoldo. Good for you…that all may be true and all but there's one thing you seemed to have conveniently forgotten about and it's a pretty important detail if you ask me!"

"What have I- oh…yeah…" Arnold was drawing a blank for a moment but then quickly realized what Helga was talking about. He wasn't sure why he forgot about that for a split second but now he was sure Helga would think of him as some forgetful jerk. Then again, he was sure that she already saw him as something along those lines. 'So I was right. That is what this is all about,' he thought to himself in confirmation.

"Yeah, you nearly forgot the fact that 3 years ago you basically took your confession back when you dumped me not even a week after you confessed to me because you were just surprised that I could actually be nice or whatever happened that caused you to blurt out 'I love you' to me, whether it was jungle heat or that we were stuck together for nearly 2 days in that hideout the Green Eyes made for us, or maybe it was-," Helga's response further confirmed Arnold's suspicions, in which her response began to turn into a rant when Arnold interrupted her.

"No, no I was not surprised about that. I already knew that you could be nice. I just realized then how much you cared since pretty much every nice thing you have done was done for- wait, that's not the point. The point is that I know this is an act. Have you forgotten that I know _everything_? You must have since you still treat me like this. Now, I'm not talking about when we're around our classmates because I understand you are very protective of your 'tough' reputation and though I do not really believe you should keep that reputation, I will still respect your wishes. No, I'm referring to when we're alone, when it's just you and me. Why you not only still lash out at me when we're alone but you are now even worse is beyond me. Would it be so bad if we were both at least civil around each other?" Arnold asked genuinely after concluding a little rant of his own.

"Yes, yes it would," Helga answered. She pretended to think about it for a second or two but her mind had been made up on that subject years ago. 'It would be pure agony, even worse than before because I now know there's no chance for us…' she added in her head. On the outside, Helga appeared tough, unfazed, and rock-solid but inside her heart was breaking. Again. She felt she was moments away from dissolving into a puddle and she really didn't want Arnold to see that.

'It also doesn't help that I'm exhausted,' she thought. 'And that is why I gotta wrap this up any way I can before I do something I really regret…like forgive him,' Helga internally shuddered at that part before deciding that she should just try to leave now.

"Helga, I'm trying here," Arnold reason in response to the fact that Helga started to walk away from him. His voice even had a slight pleading tone to it. At that, Helga spun around to face Arnold.

"I don't really care," she replied indifferently.

"Helga, stop it with the act already," Arnold argued as he started to become annoyed again.

"Again with this 'act' nonsense," Helga stated, acting all nonchalant.

"It's not nonsense! Now, knock it off," Arnold argued, his confrontational attitude coming back in full-swing again.

"Arnold, you're the only one that said this was an act while I neither confirmed nor denied it," Helga reasoned and was surprisingly rational about it.

"You haven't confirmed it," Arnold accused stubbornly.

"Well, I haven't denied it either. And I _definitely_ can't deny it," Helga vaguely announced, to which she was doing that on purpose as a way to sort of torture him with the reminder that he was so dense. She really hated that teasing with him like this still felt so natural.

"Wait, now I'm confused…" Arnold replied honestly. That response really caught him off guard.

"Ugh…must I spell it out for you? Wait, don't answer that. Of course I have to!"

"Helga…" an annoyed Arnold replied.

"Ok, ok. You're still as dense as ever, Arnoldo!"

"Helga!" Arnold exclaimed. He had enough of this and his patience was wearing thin.

'She's going to do everything she can to avoid talking to me about this, isn't she? Well, it's not like this is anything new. And besides, I'm going to do everything I can to get some answers so…I guess the most stubborn one will get what they want,' Arnold thought, his inner voice having a tint of dark humor to it.

"Ugh…fine. _This_ is not an act, ok? I'm still mean to you but not because it is just some old habit that is really hard to break. I have a new reason now: I actually wanna be mean to ya!"

"You actually want to…? Why?" Arnold was stunned. Now that really threw him for a loop.

"You broke my heart, disregarded my feelings, and didn't do anything when your plans to move to San Lorenzo fell through because your parents decided to move back to Hillwood to be with you instead of making you leave your hometown. You didn't try to make it right – no apology, no explanation, nothing. You just acted like nothing happened – that you didn't tell me you loved me, then took it back and dumped me without at least talking to me about it. And you expect everything to go back to the way it was, back to when I was hopelessly in love with you. But it can't. It will never be like that again," Helga concluded her lengthy response with a blank look in Arnold's direction.

'No, blank is not the right word,' Arnold thought as he racked his brain for a better word. 'Her expression is hollow, as if she's not feeling anything. This is probably one of the worst things I've ever seen. What happened to that spark she had? Her passion? It's gone. And I'm pretty sure I did this to her…but wait, that must mean that…'

"Wait, so you don't…you don't love me anymore?" Arnold asked, deciding that that last part of his thoughts would be better if he thought them out loud.

'Why does the thought of that make me kind of sad, almost heartbroken?' Arnold asked himself. 'Wait, no, the thought of that would break my heart and I know why. Ugh…I love Helga but thanks to me she may hate my guts…wait, there's still a part of her that loves me…I remember when she was asleep she was smiling and…she said my name,'

"Nope," she answered without any hesitation.

"Then what was that dreamy look on your face all about?" Arnold accused, remembering what he just thought about and decided to use what he witnessed earlier to his advantage.

"What dreamy look?" Helga asked out of pure confusion. She honestly did not know what Arnold was talking about.

"That look you had on your face before I woke you up," Arnold replied, his soft but strong gaze stayed glued to Helga's the whole time. With that, Helga's confusion quickly ended and she was trying to not let her panic show. 'Ok, Helga 'ol girl, don't give anything way or he's gonna get the wrong idea,' she reasoned with herself as she tried to calm down so she could figure out the best way to handle this. In no time at all, she realized that her best bet would be to deflect the situation onto him somehow to distract him and get her off the hook. It was another go-to action of hers.

"Wow, when did you start getting observant all of a sudden? Who are you and what have you done to the dense Arnold we all know?" Helga asked and crossed her arms in mock accusation. She really hoped this tactic would work. She had no other card to play.

"Helga…I'm not falling for that. I know you're trying to distract me so you can avoid talking about this. I may be dense but I've known you long enough to know your usual behaviors by now. And besides, I've let this go on long enough. I want answers, Helga. Now," with his arms crossed, Arnold demanded in a really out-of-character way. But he was fed up and knew that he had to try to undo the horrible mistake he made now or he would never get the chance to again. He had to at least try.

'If she still feels something for me, then there's still hope,' Arnold reminded himself to help him stay strong, all in preparation for whatever Helga would dish out next.

Meanwhile, Helga was lost in some trance. Her eyes were wide and her jaw had dropped slightly. Suddenly, Helga slapped herself in the face and then shook her head rather violently as a way to snap herself out of it.

'Where is all this coming from? This is really not like him…but come to think of it, he's been avoiding me like the plague since San Lorenzo but then a few weeks ago he's been different, more in my face, more annoying, and more like this. What is his deal? Why act differently now? Oh, I don't really care. All I know is that I seriously am done with him and just want to go home and take a nap…but at the same time I don't want to leave. Ugh…it's all your fault, Arnold. You made me so conflicted. I am this way now because of you, actually it's because of me. I'm letting you have this effect on me and I am so sick of it…' Helga thought as she tried to figure out the best answer that would help her make her escape.

"Holy crap…Ok, ok calm down. So I was dreaming about something that made me smile. Big deal! What makes you think I was dreaming about you, football head?" Helga countered but before Arnold could respond she decided to do it for him.

"That's right, you don't so since we're all done here, so am I," Helga added and with that she turned around and tried to leave again.

"You said my name," he answered simply as she was walking away. After hearing this, Helga stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes also bugged out but thankfully she still had her back to Arnold so he couldn't see her face right now. However, he could tell that she was pretty surprised with his response.

'Dangit! Curse me and my big mouth,' Helga scolded herself, 'Great, now there's no talking my way out of this one. Guess I better get this inevitable talk over with but quickly so I can finally end this torture,' she thought as she turned around and began to carry out her plan.

"Ok, ok…criminy, can't take a joke can ya? Ok, yes I still think about you and unfortunately you have never really left my dreams. You basically turned me into an even bigger basket case now and I didn't know that was possible. But anyways, I'm trying to stop them but ya know, old habits and all that. And technically speaking, I don't hate you. When you dumped me like that and then didn't try to make it right when I found out you were going to stay here after all, I realized that I put you on a pedestal for all those years and it needed to end because that moment taught me something: that you're not perfect, nobody is and therefore nobody needs to be on a pedestal, not even you. But as to whether or not I still love you, yes I think I still do and I hate myself for that everyday…" Helga let her mind wander and she trailed off, which was the result of her having to open up like this. However, Helga's alone-time with her thoughts was short-lived.

"Why do you hate yourself?" Arnold asked quietly. Helga's response left him with as many questions as there were answers. He decided to lead off with that question, which he felt was the most important. However, Helga was done with opening up and just wanted to get out of this horrible situation.

"Why do you care all of a sudden?" Helga accused while averting Arnold's gaze.

"…Helga…I…," Arnold stammered, struggling to find the right words. To be honest, he wasn't completely sure. Well actually, he was sure more or less but he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her now. But it wasn't like it mattered anyways because Helga had reached her own breaking point, for like the tenth time today.

"I'm done with this," Helga stated resolutely and headed for the door for the third time. Arnold did not have the courage to confess to everything, at least not on his own. Luckily for him, the thought of Helga leaving him there, of her being done with him once and for all, was enough to ignite something in him. Therefore, without much of a thought to it, he rushed after her and grabbed hold of one of her arms.

"Helga, wait!"

Because of Arnold's firm hold on her arm, Helga had no choice but to stop but she was not giving up, not by any means. She turned around and stared him down.

"What?! I've endured enough torture for one day. Maybe I would be more open to talk to you if you confronted me earlier but you didn't. And we'll never know how things would turn out differently but the truth of the matter is that you're too late, Arnold. It's 3 years too late and-aw, screw it! Ya wanna know why I hate myself for loving you? It's because all this time I've been madly in love with someone who I found out 3 years ago does not love me, has never loved me, and will never love me. And I've been trying so hard to forget you, to be done with you once and for all but all I've managed to do so far is waste more time and break my heart even more. Ok, so now you know. Tell me, does it make you feel all good inside that _you did this to me_? Oh, I don't care and I can't take this anymore. I'm leaving now and-"

Before Helga could finish her response and try to make a break for it again, she suddenly found herself in the middle of a warm embrace. She realized that Arnold had wrapped his arms around her, which was a good thing because at that moment Arnold's arms were the only thing keeping Helga up. All it took was Arnold's embrace and now Helga felt like she was nothing more than a rag doll. She stayed frozen in that state as Arnold continued to hold her.

'I can't believe I had the courage to do this. I guess because I didn't give much thought to it and just put my arms around her. I think…I think I missed this. I forgot how natural this felt. If everything works out, I'm never letting her go,' Arnold ended his silent musings with a solemn vow he just made to himself. And he knew he meant it.

"I'm sorry, Helga…I'm so very sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I can't believe I didn't think of that. I lied to protect you, well that was my intention but I guess I only made things worse and for that I am sorry. I swear if I had known that this was what all that had put you through, I wouldn't have done it like that," Arnold apologized as he held Helga tight. He patiently waited for a reply. Meanwhile, Helga was still frozen because of Arnold's embrace. She was trying to make her thoughts connect with her voice but it was a struggle.

"What do you mean 'lied to protect me'?" Helga finally managed to squeak out after several quiet moments had passed, to which Arnold didn't mind if he was being honest with himself.

"I thought by telling you I wanted to pretend nothing happened, like basically asking for a do-over, then that would be the best thing but that time I was only thinking of myself. At the time, when you told me you never wanted to speak to me again, I figured I should just do what you said. I thought that I should give you space because I didn't want to make things worse but honestly I was scared to face you. I knew I had to apologize for a lot of things but I never did because to my dumb 10-year-old self, if I believed you hated me there was nothing I could really do to fix anything so there was no need to try. I actually was unsure about what I felt and didn't want to hurt you more until I sorted out my feelings. But then a few months later I realized something, something that became the reason why I kept things like this, my way of lying to protect you…and I didn't want to hide it but I figured it was for the best…I mean, I hurt you enough without even trying. You don't deserve that. You deserve way better but then about a few weeks ago it started getting harder and harder to go through my whole day without talking to you and-"

Arnold had started out strong with his explanation but as he got further into talking about his feelings, especially those that he knew existed for some time but could no longer contain them, he found himself just babbling with no end in sight. Therefore, Arnold was actually quite grateful when Helga had interrupted him when she did.

"I'm not following any of this…What did you lie about?" Helga interrupted as she leaned back to look in Arnold's eyes, her two eyebrows furrowing in confusion (she separated her unibrow when she started junior high the previous year).

As Helga waited for an answer, Arnold was trying to figure out the best way to explain but he knew that words were obviously not going to help him out this time and he was better off just showing her. After realizing this, Arnold tried summoning up the courage to do just that.

"This," Arnold answered. And as Helga started to ask him what he was talking about, he silenced her by crushing his lips against hers.

 **A/N: I guess ending this here makes me kind of evil, huh? (Mwahaha!) Seriously though, that was not my intention. Separating parts 2 and 3 here made the most sense to me because both parts will still flow ok. I think part 3 will be the last part. Fair warning, it's the part I couldn't finish before my break ended so that means that I don't have an official timeframe regarding when I'll get it done, but do I ever? Haha. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this!**

 **Update: Forgot to mention that there was a song reference in this part. Did you find it? There may be 2 in this chapter but I can't remember!**


	3. Acceptance

**A/N: Hey! I'm kind of on a break from grad school this week. I say 'kind of' because I still have things to do even though we have not started our next class yet. It feels weird. Anyways, since I had the time, I was able to complete the final part to "Breaking Point" so here it is. Hope you like it! I enjoyed writing this chapter the most and I felt I had more leeway to add extra things, meaning that I got a little carried away with this, which resulted in this chapter having more content than what I had originally planned. It's even longer than the first two chapters combined! Honestly, this is probably my longest chapter ever out of anything I have written for this site so far and not just this story (9,475 words). By the way, I decided to bump up the rating of this to "T" for reasons I can't get into or I'd give it away. Changing the rating was not planned. It just ended up happening!**

 **This chapter has another song reference, though slightly paraphrased. See if you can find it!**

 **But first: I HAVE NO DIRECT AFFILIATION OR OWNERSHIP OF ANYTHING RELATED TO "HEY ARNOLD!". THE STORY IDEA IS MY OWN CREATION BUT NOT ANYTHING INVOLVING THE SHOW ITSELF. I AM NOT AND WILL NEVER CLAIM OWNERSHIP FOR THE SHOW AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON…THE ONLY TIME I'LL COME CLOSE IS WHEN I ACCIDENTALLY FORGET TO DO THESE DISCLAIMER THINGIES BECAUSE THAT HAPPENS LOL.**

Breaking Point

Part 3: Acceptance

For a few seconds, Helga just stood there with her eyes bugging out all while Arnold kept kissing her. The way he was kissing her was confusing to both teens to say the least. He still had one arm wrapped tightly around her waist while his other hand was cradling the back of Helga's head. The kiss itself was a strange but wonderful combination of tenderness and passion-consumed hunger. Arnold figured that since the last and only other time that he ever initiated the kiss turned out kind of awkwardly, which occurred back in San Lorenzo when they were 10, then he should really make this one count. And besides, he had been meaning to do this for some time; he just did not realize that until right at that moment.

For a while, Helga was just stunned during the whole thing as millions of thoughts were swarming around in her head, like she was trying to make sense of things.

'Huh…? What...? Am I actually dreaming this or is Arnold actually kissing me? Oh, who cares? No matter what, it's a dream come true!' Helga thought and for a split second she almost became happy and was about to actually give in and reciprocate the kiss. However, it was at that moment when she remembered the present situation and then something just clicked. Helga's emotional state immediately changed from pure bliss to a white-hot rage. She put an end to her girlish daydreams once again and returned to the nightmare she was currently a part of.

'How dare he do this to me! Who does he think he is, just toying with my emotions like that?! I may not be the nicest person in the world but I'm a human being with feelings too, ya know! Wait…why am I still letting him kiss me? I'm going to hate myself for this but I'm doing this for my own good…I gotta put an end to this now and forever because I can't take this pain anymore!' As soon as Helga finished that thought, she broke free from Arnold's lips.

"Stop that right now! That is not fair!" Helga shouted angrily.

"What…are you…talking a-ah!?" Arnold began to ask but mid-sentence Helga had abruptly pushed Arnold away as she finished shouting at him. And she pushed him so hard that he fell and accidentally collided backwards into the table part of a desk, and end up taking it down with him. Both him and the desk hit the ground with a thud, followed by a small groan from Arnold and then silence.

To Helga, it was as if everything in that moment was occurring in slow motion. To see Arnold hurt like that was all it took for her to forget all her anger and pain, at least for a little while.

"Arnold!" Helga exclaimed in fright as she rushed to bridge the short distance between them. He was already unconscious when she got near him. She knelt before him, her bottom lip trembling slightly as she was fighting back tears, which was pretty much an unwinnable battle. She gently lifted his head to see if he was bleeding. She didn't feel anything and then after gingerly lowering his head back down to examine her still pale hands, she heaved a sigh of relief. It was then that she realized that she must have been holding her breath that entire time.

"Maybe you'll be ok but still…guess I still don't know my own strength…I'm so sorry, Arnold," Helga whispered solemnly with just a hint of hope as she gently caressed one of his cheeks. Even though Arnold's head wasn't bleeding, Helga was still going out of her mind and was completely consumed with worry.

"Hey, what's going on in there?" a distant voice called out, followed by a pair of footsteps that got slightly louder with each step, indicating they were coming this way and soon.

'That's probably the janitor…ugh I'm in no shape to explain my way out of this…' Helga groaned with dread as she figured out what was happening. Looking around the classroom, her eyes rested on the teacher's desk and suddenly she had a plan forming in her head. Making sure she covered her bases, Helga got up and put the desk back in its place, but only did so after she pulled Arnold forward a little bit so she would be sure that she had plenty of room to fix the desk without accidentally hurting him again. Then, while still trying to be gentle, she quickly put her arms around Arnold's waist and lifted him up. She started half-carrying and half-dragging him to behind the desk and as she got near it she got down on the ground and pulled him backwards into that little space of the desk for the person sitting there. She backed herself into that space first so that she was sitting cross-legged on the floor with her back facing that board part that made up the front of the desk. She carefully pulled Arnold closer to her so that his head was in her lap. She then bent his knees so he would have room to lie down.

Helga's little plan was executed just in time because the janitor had entered the classroom barely even a second later.

"What the-?" the school janitor started to ask but had stopped mid-question out of pure confusion.

"But…I thought I heard…huh, guess I imagined it…oh who cares? This is the last room anyways...but it looks fine to me so I'm going home, not like there's anyone to stop me anyways…" he muttered to himself as he turned around and left the classroom, turning off the light as he exited. Helga could hear the sound of the janitor locking the door of the classroom but she wasn't really processing that bit of information at that point.

'Wow, that was a close one. Makes me wonder how often that guy cleans the school…Should I warn Harold the next time he claims the 5-second rule during lunch? Nah…Pink Boy hasn't gotten sick yet and he wouldn't even care if I did,' Helga chuckled softly at that thought.

Suddenly, low moans broke up that brief humorous moment that Helga was having with herself. She looked down and saw that Arnold was regaining consciousness. Helga started to panic at the situation she just realized she just got them in.

'Why didn't I leave after the janitor left when I had the chance? Because I love Arnold, that's why…Ugh! Is that always my answer? Criminy! How do I explain this? What lame excuses do I have left? Is there really a reason to lie anymore at this point?' As Helga was trying to figure out the answer to that question, which she actually knew it in her heart and it was her mind that didn't want her to admit it, Arnold slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the sight before him: Helga hiding her face in her hands while slightly trembling.

'She looks worried about something…could she be…could she be worrying about me? She doesn't need to be. I know it was an accident but still…I hope she is because if that's true there could still be hope. No use in wondering anymore. We're way past that. Wait, why are we under the teacher's desk? No, not important for now. I'll ask later. If I'm right, this needs to happen now,' And without any hesitation, Arnold went through with a plan of his very own, which he just came up with. He slowly lifted up one of his hands and placed it over one of Helga's hands that she was using to cover her face with. Helga quickly removed her hands from her face in reaction and just gave Arnold a look of shock mixed with fear.

"Arnold, I can explain. You see, the-," As Helga was trying to explain how they wound up under the desk, Arnold silenced her by cupping her face with the same hand he lifted up to her face earlier.

"Shh," Arnold whispered softly as he slowly caressed her cheek. He had Helga's full attention now, as she was trying to figure out how to breathe.

Suddenly, Arnold's other hand reached up to the back of Helga's head. He then used both hands to pull her face to his, but before he completely did this he gave Helga a look that showed that there was a hidden question in it. Helga understood the message perfectly, as if he asked her out loud. Before giving herself the chance to second-guess, she gave her answer. Arnold was expecting a nod or something but he should've realized by now that Helga was anything but predictable. Instead, she surprised both him and herself by taking the initiative and lowered her head down to close the distance between them.

'Oh my…I never thought kissing her could get any better…I guess I that last one doesn't really count because it was only one-sided…she's so passionate and so…so…mmm…' Arnold briefly thought to himself before all his thoughts jumbled together and left his mind completely as he let himself get lost into that kiss.

Arnold turned to the side a little bit and wrapped his arms around Helga's waist. Helga responded by placing one hand on the back of Arnold's head and the other around the waist of the side that he was leaning on to sort of cushion him from the cold, hard ground. The sweet gesture was not lost on Arnold, who sighed softly in happiness about the fact that Helga was showing her sweet side. That was a rare treat, though he had a feeling that that wouldn't be so rare anymore, well at least he hoped it wouldn't.

Arnold decided to return Helga's sweet action with one of his own. He figured that Helga's neck and back would soon be hurting due to being kind of bent and hunched over like that. Therefore, Arnold moved one of his arms up Helga's back and used his fingers to slowly but firmly knead and massage her upper back and neck area, to which Helga hummed in delight. She also held him a little tighter in response. His sweet and completely in-character action definitely wasn't lost on Helga.

Helga figured that Arnold earned what she was about to do next, which she hoped would drive Arnold completely wild. She traced all around his lips with her tongue. Arnold gasped a little in slight surprise but he was truly thrilled by the action. Almost a little too eagerly, he opened his mouth a little wider, allowing Helga's tongue to be inside his mouth. She explored the inside of his mouth, feeling every tooth and space. This went on for a few seconds and then Arnold's tongue joined hers.

The two teens held onto each other tighter as their tongues bounced and played off one another. And as if they both silently came up with the same plan, Helga placed her hands to the sides of Arnold's head so she could lift him off of her lap. Then she lowered him onto the ground but with one of her arms placed underneath his head so it wouldn't actually be in contact with the ground. Arnold also sighed at that second sweet gesture made by Helga.

Without breaking the kiss, Helga moved one of her legs so that it was around one side of Arnold's waist, while the other leg remained at the other side. She then began to center herself so that she would be over him. As Arnold placed his hands on Helga's waist to help steady her, he accidentally touched her ticklish spot, in which she jerked away in reaction and ended up bonking her head on the under part of the desk, to which Arnold had opened his eyes in time to see it happen.

"Ow," Helga groaned as she rubbed her head with one of her hands.

"Oh, Helga, I'm sorry. I-" Arnold started to explain but then Helga put a hand up to his face to silence him.

"Forget it, Football Head. I deserved that for hurting you," Helga reasoned with him.

"But that was an accident, so why were you upset about that?" Arnold asked, hinting that he was implying something. He was obviously pushing his luck but he didn't care.

"And so was this," Helga paused to point up to the part of the desk she hit her head on, "So why are you apologizing for that?" She countered right back to him, completely ignoring his question. But then she was suddenly consumed in a fit of giggles.

The sound of Helga's heartfelt laughter made Arnold smile. It was way better than when she laughed mockingly.

"What's so funny?" He asked curiously.

"What's funny is that I think that for once I'm the dense one," Helga answered as she gave Arnold a knowing smirk.

"What?" Arnold asked as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Well, I was for a second there but now you're still the reigning king!" Helga observed with another chuckle, which was more playful than it was hurtful.

"Helga…" Arnold sighed, this time only pretending to sound annoyed. Truth be told, he was still a little lovesick from earlier and he found it pretty much impossible to be annoyed with her in that moment.

"Ok, ok. I forgot who I was talking to…what I mean is that _that_ , what just happened. That kiss and the one right before and I should've put it all together then but I was too mad. But anyways, now it's all clear. You love me, Arnold," Helga stated as her gaze remained steadily glued to Arnold's, her eyes filled with a strange combination of seriousness, sureness, anxiety, love, and most of all: hope.

If Helga had said that to him about 20 minutes ago when they started fighting, he probably would've denied it or made some excuse but after all this confrontation stuff and _everything else_ , Arnold knew that not only would he risk losing her if he didn't tell the truth but he would probably also be well-received if he did.

"Yes," Arnold stated simply. He figured that he would tell the truth but have a little fun with Helga while doing so. Sure enough, that answer caused Helga's eyes to bug out briefly but then quickly returned to normal. She gave a small smile as she crossed her arms.

"I had a feeling," Helga said as she smirked but then quickly frowned and shook her head.

"What's wrong?" Arnold asked as he was starting to get a little worried about Helga's reaction.

'Maybe she was only acting on old feelings and doesn't really feel that way for me anymore. Did I cross some boundary by accident?' Arnold thought to himself as he continued to get more anxious.

"The problem is that this is too familiar. You told me the same thing 3 years ago and we know how that turned out. How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know you're not going to hurt me again? You can promise me that you won't and say that it's all different now but is it really? The only things that have changed are time and memories, memories of what happened, which have become good reasons for me to not want to get back into this situation…again. You can't promise me things like that because you can't control that, of course you'll hurt me but until I know this is not the same thing and that you're serious this time, I'm not taking the risk this time and- mmm!" Even though Helga was not done with her explanation, Arnold decided to finish it for her with a kiss. This time it was a very brief one.

After finishing the kiss that he started, Arnold sat up and looked into Helga's eyes, which were locked on his in anticipation.

"Helga, you're right that we don't know if I'll hurt you again. You know that I'd never plan to but it could happen, most likely will happen, but it's also very likely that you will hurt me. We do that sometimes, not just to each other but everybody does that to somebody they love. They say things they don't mean or lash out for no reason. A lot of times, it's because they don't realize what they have and horrible it would feel to lose them. I guess what I'm getting at is that 3 years ago, I thought I was doing both of us a favor by lying and avoiding you. And you're right, I hurt you but I also hurt myself. I did not realize how badly that affected you and if I could change my actions, I would but I can't. And when you basically spelled it out for me not too long ago, that's when I realized that what I did hurt myself as well. I felt, no I _feel_ awful because all this time and you were going through all that pain. I feel even worse knowing that that was all because of me. So no, I can't promise that I won't hurt you but I can promise you that I won't do anything to you like that again or anything without thinking long and hard about the consequences. If I think something will hurt you even in the smallest way, I won't do it. If it's something big, I won't do anything without coming to you about it first. It will be different and it already is because now I would never do anything to seriously hurt you like I did 3 years ago, because doing that also hurt me as a result. To know that I caused you pain would make me feel the same about myself. That is how much you mean to me, how much you have always meant to me but I have been way too dense to realize what has been right in front of me for years," Arnold lightly chuckled at that as he paused for a second to rub Helga's cheek with his thumb.

"I love you, Helga and I promise you that I mean it this time. And I don't think I'll ever be able to completely make up for the fact that I hurt you but I'm willing to try," Arnold continued without any hesitation.

Helga felt an eerily familiar reminder of her dream from before Arnold woke her up and started this whole craziness.

'But thank goodness he did! Thank goodness he found me!' Helga thought to herself in pure happiness, that last thought being a reference to both 20 minutes ago and to that fateful day at preschool 10 years ago.

"Come here, you big lug!" Helga squealed in delight and without a second thought she pulled Arnold into her embrace.

"This seems almost familiar," Arnold observed jokingly as he chuckled lightly, returning her embrace.

"Oh, shut up," Helga lightly scolded as she nuzzled her face into the crook of Arnold's neck.

They stayed there like that for a few moments until a thought came to Helga's mind that caused her to pull back and give Arnold a knowing smirk.

"Ya know, while you were knocked out, the janitor came in the room because he heard you and the desk hit the floor but by the time he opened the door I had already fixed the desk and hid us here and then he thought the room looked clean enough so he left. So basically, we're trapped in the school on a Friday afternoon," Helga finished filling Arnold in with what happened with a playful wag of one of her eyebrows.

Slowly, the new information started to sink in to Arnold and sure enough, he reacted just like Helga thought he would. With a gasp, Arnold quickly clambered out from under the desk, nearly trampling Helga on the way out. Luckily, Helga predicted that Arnold would do something like that so she moved herself out of harm's way in the nick of time. With a light chuckle and head shake, Helga left the desk area a second later, but in a way that was much calmer and normal than Arnold's exit was. As soon as Helga was able to stand up, she turned around to find Arnold pacing back and forth from the far end of the classroom to the middle. He was also rapidly muttering something Helga couldn't quite make out. He was more audible to her as she started walking towards him.

"What?! Oh no…I gotta get home. What are we gonna do? My parents are probably freaking out and-" Even though this was pretty entertaining to Helga, she decided that it would probably be best to cut this panic attack short before Arnold completely lost his mind. She stopped close to the middle of the classroom and waited for the moment that Arnold's pacing would bring him back to that middle area. As soon as he was within arm's reach, she gently placed a finger over his panic-stricken lips. This action appeared to have done the trick, since a still-standing and less hysterical-looking Arnold suddenly stood before Helga. His eyes were trained on hers, containing an expression that was a combination of slight confusion and awe. Even though it made sense, Arnold was still amazed how Helga knew just how to calm him down. He was glad she was with him in this situation, even though she was technically the reason they were in this predicament to begin with. But he really wasn't pointing fingers at her or anything, since the very same predicament also helped them get back together.

"Oh how quickly you forget everything I told you about me," Helga observed with fake annoyance as she lightly poked Arnold on the nose. Arnold's slightly far off and dreamy look disappeared to allow room for a look of confusion to fill his face. Arnold figured that though Helga's comment probably had a good point to it, she was most likely trying to be vague first just to mess with him so he decided to play along for a little bit.

"Either you're being this vague to mess with me or you seriously keep forgetting who you are talking to," Arnold commented and returned Helga's knowing smirk with one of his own. He wasn't going to admit it anytime soon but it felt kind of good to let go and make fun of himself about one of his traits, even one that he was not too fond of because it often resulted in being the butt of a few jokes. Speaking of jokes, the person who made fun of his denseness the most was right in front of him.

'Crazy how things work out. Seriously though, I really am dense. How does Helga put up with me? She does stuff like this,' Arnold chuckled to himself as he just answered his own silent question.

"Wow, I think I'm rubbing off of you already. And who would've thought you'd actually make fun of your own denseness? I feel like I need to say your name in an annoyed tone just to have some consistency with how our conversations usually go, well minus the yelling for no reason of course. That's definitely going to change," Helga promised, her reply started out as light but then ended on a serious note.

The way Helga's response ended caused Arnold to give her a warm smile in return.

"Glad to hear it," he replied with a smirk as he took one of her hands in his and started to stroke her hand with his thumb.

Helga looked down at their hands. She had a feeling, no, scratch that. She _knew_ without a doubt that now that she and Arnold were dating, random signs of affection like that from Arnold was about to become the norm, not that she wasn't happy with that but it just took some getting used to.

Suddenly, she felt something lift up her chin and then found herself face to face with Arnold but his face was getting closer. Helga knew that she would probably kick herself later for this but she really wanted to get home. She was still pretty tired.

"Now wait a minute, lover boy," Helga scolded mockingly, the palm of her hand that he wasn't holding was gently pushing his chest back. "I think you have forgotten our predicament. We're trapped in here,"

"Yeah, I'm aware. How else do you suggest we pass the time?" Arnold asked coyly.

"Ok, first of all, you're bluffing. Second, before this, I have been having a really crappy day and sadly my patience is really beginning to wear thin so you better careful, bucko," Helga warned, only half-threateningly. She knew Arnold was kidding but she was too tired to be amused and even he could push her buttons. Actually, it was more like he especially knew just how to push those buttons and just kept right on doing it. And in actuality, Helga was only half-sure that he was kidding. It didn't matter anymore though because in response to Helga's reply, a look of concern swept over Arnold's face. He gently held her hand again.

"Aww, tell me," Arnold requested while lightly caressing Helga's cheek with his other hand, his voice was soft and sweet. Helga was taken aback a little by this sweet gesture.

'This is another thing that is definitely going to take some getting used to, not that I mind though,' Helga thought with a small smile and an internal sigh. Her expression softened in response to Arnold's actions.

"Here's the short version: Olga came for a visit and wanted to bond with her _baby sister_ so she forced me to stay up with her. Now I'm exhausted and I just need to lie down," Helga explained.

"Wonderful. I'll go with you," Arnold responded rather teasingly, though a part of him was actually being serious.

"Now that's familiar," Helga observed sarcastically while deciding to just ignore the hint of seriousness in his tone instead of attempting to resist the temptation of that hidden invitation. She then added, "Seriously, have you gone completely insane?"

"Well, I am in love with you so…" Arnold answered jokingly. His little stunt earned him playful punch in the arm.

"Keep that up and you're gonna get a new understanding of the word 'crazy'," Helga warned, only half-serious, though she had no idea which half would end up winning. After all, she was so tired and therefore she couldn't be held responsible for anything she did in that moment. Arnold definitely wasn't helping matters at all.

"Well, how do you suppose we do that? We're locked in here," Arnold asked, stating the obvious.

"Oh my apologies," Helga replied as she extended her hand towards Arnold.

"What are you doing?" Arnold asked as he just stared at Helga's extended hand with a confused expression.

"I'm introducing myself to you because we obviously have never met before," Helga answered, the corner of her mouth angling into a small smirk.

"Ok, I'm afraid you've lost me again…And before you say it, I know, 'what else is new?'" Not only had Arnold made another joke about his denseness but that time he predicted Helga's reaction and sort of impersonated her a little, even throwing in an eye roll for good measure. Helga was kind of stunned about what she was witnessing.

'Well, it didn't take him that long to be more at ease with his denseness. Gerald is right. Arnold really is a bold kid…maybe a little too bold since he thinks I'm that predictable. Well, I guess it's time to teach him a little lesson about Helga G. Pataki,' Helga thought with a smirk as her little plan was swirling into motion.

"Oh, so I'm that predictable, huh?" Helga asked rhetorically, her tone was soft and sweet but it was more like a toxic kind of sweetness. Helga's smirk grew wider as she inched closer and closer to Arnold, her eyes never leaving his for a second.

Arnold kept his gaze plastered to hers, in which his eyes looked more impatient each time Helga got closer to him. Arnold closed his eyes in anticipation as Helga's face drew closer to his.

'Ok, Helga, 'ol girl, you got him right where you want him. Now finish him,' she thought to herself in amusement as she abruptly backed away from Arnold, which resulted in him realizing that he was only hugging and kissing the air. His eyes popped back open the second he heard Helga's laughter.

"Enjoying yourself?" Arnold asked, slightly annoyed but more disappointed than anything else.

"You bet I am, football face!" Helga answered in a fit of giggles.

"That was just cruel," Arnold accused while pouting immaturely and crossing his arms.

"Who do you think you're talking to? Besides, I had to prove to you that I'm not as predictable as you think I am. You could spend your whole life trying to figure me out and you will never get anywhere close. I'd still leave ya guessing," Helga stated matter-of-factly as she crossed her arms and shot Arnold a rather confident looking smirk.

"You promise?" Arnold asked, his tone slightly hopeful.

"Huh? Promise what?" Helga asked with a lost expression.

"To keep me guessing, for the rest of my life I mean?" Arnold clarified rather shyly but also kind of boldly. It was a strange combination.

"Wow, you may be more insane than me. I was speaking in a more general sense, you know," Helga reasoned.

"I know but still…" Arnold trailed as he began to close the distance between him and Helga. Unfortunately for Arnold, Helga knew what Arnold was up to and she wasn't having any of it.

"I know what you're doing so stop it," Helga warned as she crossed her arms and gave a look that clearly gave off the message that she was not in the mood to be messed with. But just because Arnold understood Helga's hidden message that didn't do much to change his plan of action.

"I don't know what you mean-" Arnold denied as he kept inching closer. Helga decided that if she was going to get through to Arnold, she had to go old-school. Before Arnold got any closer on his own, Helga did that for him by grabbing the front of his shirt and dragging him towards her. She then made her free hand into a fist and started waving it in his face rather threateningly. The two teens both knew by now that Helga would never act on these types of threats, but that's not what Helga was trying to do. She only wanted to get Arnold's attention and based on his half-shocked and half-amused expression, she knew she definitely had it.

"Look, you can get your little revenge on me later or whatever but for now you gotta focus," Helga ordered, only somewhat harshly, but she blamed that on being so tired. Arnold nodded in response, which was followed by Helga loosening her grip until she let go of him completely. Arnold silently vowed that he would get back at her later, even though all along his plan was just to actually kiss her again. He knew that he could never do what Helga did to him earlier because he seriously lacked the willpower to not kiss her.

"Now, do you remember back in San Lorenzo when we had to break into La Sombra's lair and you asked me how I learned to do that and I said I had a lot of practice from all those times I broke into your house?" Helga asked, her tone serious again.

"Wait, you weren't kidding?" Arnold asked out of shock, his previous plan was long forgotten.

"I can't belief you haven't figured out by now that I don't really do 'kidding'. I mean, every time I say something about myself I say it as a joke even though it's most likely the truth. Of course, I also told you that back then just to shut you up,"

"All _joking_ aside, that makes sense and I'm not really that shocked…Wait, have you done that recently?"

"Nope. The last time was sometime before FTi actually. I'm not that crazy anymore and besides, I was trying to get over you," Helga answered, then noticed that that last part resulted in a sad look to appear in Arnold's eyes so she decided that she needed to re-position the focus to what was truly important and quickly.

"But that's not important anymore. Just remember what I told you in San Lorenzo. Think about it,"

"Oh! You can use your crazy-stalking-skills to good use and get us out of here!"

"Precisely, my love, although I wouldn't word it like that. In fact, don't say it like that again please. I don't need to be reminded that I was a total nutcase,"

"Whatever you say, Helga. But I don't see it that way," Arnold replied sincerely, while lightly blushing in response to when Helga called him her love. Helga, not noticing Arnold's blushing, gave him an unamused look with a raised eyebrow in response, which made Arnold laugh.

"Ok, ok. Yeah, you were a little _eccentric_ but you did that, as well as so many nice things, all out of love. And to quote a certain somebody from a certain rooftop, you are 'a pretty amazing person', Helga,"

"Watch it with the sweet talk, Arnold-o! I am dangerously close to attacking you with kisses again and then we'll never leave this place," Helga warned, part-jokingly, but mostly she was quite serious.

"You say that like it's a bad thing…" Arnold trailed off as he started sending Helga tempting messages with his eyes.

"It's not but not here, ok?" Helga requested, a silent plea in her eyes.

"Yeah, you're right…you won't let me forgot when I say that, will you?" Arnold asked jokingly with a light and warm chuckle.

"You know me so well," Helga confirmed as she gave Arnold a wink and a smirk.

"Ok, so you can get us out of here?" Arnold asked just to be sure. Instead of snapping at him, Helga decided to just humor him and only nodded in response.

"Well, let's go," Arnold replied as he headed for the door of the classroom.

"Um, wrong way, Arnold," Helga stated behind him rather matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean? I'm at the door. Isn't that how one enters and exits a room?" Arnold asked. It seemed like he was sort of insulting Helga's intelligence but she knew he was just genuinely confused.

"That's true but we can't go that way. I can unlock the door but as soon as I do that then I have to break out of another door, the main one. And it's not like I can relock it from the outside once that's done. Therefore, that's why we gotta go out the window. As long as I don't open it all the way, I can close it from the outside and then maybe come in early on Monday to officially lock it so no one will be the wiser. It's a good thing we're on the first floor," Helga reasoned as she turned to one of the windows in the classroom.

"Good thinking," Arnold agreed, realizing she had a very good point. as Helga unlocked one of the windows and pushed it open.

"Wow, that was fast. You really are good," Arnold said in amazement as he suddenly appeared right beside Helga.

"Um, the windows lock from the inside, genius," Helga corrected dryly but inside she was trying to hold back the laugh that was trying to break free. 'My silly love,' she thought.

"Oh…" Arnold replied and trailed off, not sure how else to respond after feeling like an idiot around Helga yet again.

"Regardless, you sounded more impressed than creeped out," Helga observed with interest, ignoring Arnold's lapse of judgment for his sake.

"Well, that's because I was impressed," Arnold replied, his embarrassment replaced with sincerity.

"Really?" Helga asked as she turned to properly face Arnold so she could slowly wrap her arms around his neck.

"Really," Arnold answered simply.

"Well, ok then. Good to know. Now, let's get out of here," Helga replied. And after giving Arnold a quick peck on the lips, she let go of him to begin her exit from the school. With both hands, Helga held onto the base of the window to support herself as she lifted one leg up and then had it out the window. She turned her body to allow room for the other leg to exit. With both legs bent so that her feet were basically scaling the wall, she pushed off backwards, resulting in her upper half joining the rest of her body outside. Her feet then landed firmly on the ground half a second later.

Arnold was both stunned and amused by Helga's exit. Helga noticed his reaction and smirked in response as she walked up the window.

"Make sure you don't open the window all the way or I can't close it from the outside," Helga reminded him before backing away, giving him room to make his escape. Helga could see him nodding as she finished backing up. Helga noticed that Arnold was imitating her exit when she one of his legs pop out of the window. Several seconds went by and Helga was starting to get a little impatient when it seemed like Arnold was making no additional effort to climb out the window.

"Um, Helga?" Arnold called out hesitantly.

"Yeah?" she answered as she walked back up to the window once again. 'Oh, no. That does not sound good,' Helga thought to herself in slight dread.

"I don't think I can exit this way without falling. I mean, I can't really see what I'm doing," Arnold explained honestly, with a touch of embarrassment.

'Amateur,' Helga thought while hiding a giggle.

"Ok, I'm here. I'll guide you out," Helga promised. This was the security Arnold needed to continue.

"Alright, now turn a little…that's it. And now the other leg…there you go…Now, I'm gonna help position your legs so they can push off correctly…Ok, keep them like that. Good. You're now ready to push off but wait till I-ah!" Helga was trying to get out of the way after listing off the final step when suddenly she felt the wind getting knocked out of her. Whatever hit her, it definitely used enough force to cause her to be sprawled out on the ground.

'Ow…guess I lost my footing…but wait. What am I lying on?' Arnold asked himself as he looked around in confusion. His silent question was quickly answered though as he heard a groan underneath him. His eyes widened in shock as he rapidly rolled over to see if his theory was correct. It was. He must've collided with Helga and fell backwards, resulting in his back landing on top of her. Arnold sat down on the ground beside Helga. He then reached for her hand and cupped it with one hand while slowing rubbing it with the thumb of the other. After a few seconds, Arnold's eyes soon widened even more but this time it was out of realization.

'She was trying to me to wait until she got out of the way. This was all my fault. If I seriously hurt her I won't be able to forget myself. This was definitely _not_ the kind of hurt we were talking about earlier…' Arnold let his thoughts trail off. They were soon interrupted anyways though when he heard Helga groan again. This time, she started to move her head a little.

"Helga?" Arnold asked quietly.

"Criminy, what in the—?" Helga began to ask but never finished forming the question, though the question was basically more for herself anyways. As her eyes opened, she was focusing on the figure that was right in her line of vision: Arnold who was peering over her with a worried look on his face.

"You," Helga spat out, her answer would have sounded more menacing if she wasn't in so much pain.

"I know, I know. You were telling me to wait and I didn't listen. I blame myself too,"

"So we're on the same page. Good. Then you can start making amends by helping me up," Helga answered and gave a smug half-smile. Arnold silently agreed and got up first. He bent down and extended a hand for her to take. She took it and together, with Arnold's help, Helga slowly got back up on her feet.

"How do you feel?" Arnold asked a little worriedly.

"Peachy," Helga answered with a smirk followed by a soft groan. The fact that Helga was able to make jokes relieved Arnold a little bit, but he still felt bad because she looked a little shaken up, though otherwise ok. Regardless, he knew this day was taking a toll on her in general. Suddenly, a lightbulb lit up in Arnold's head about something he could do to make her happy. 'But am I bold enough to try?' Arnold asked himself.

"Can you walk ok?" Arnold asked with a rather calculating expression. He decided to ask one last question before executing his plan.

Helga took another second to steady herself just to make sure.

"I think so," Helga answered. She looked up to give Arnold a warm smile for being his normal, thoughtful self. That was when she noticed the pensive look painted across her boyfriend's face. Before getting the chance to question it, she suddenly felt herself being scooped up into Arnold's arms. She wrapped her arms around Arnold's neck and held on a little too tightly all out feelings of temporary fear and confusion. In her new position, Helga felt really conflicted. She didn't know whether to girlishly squeal and dissolve into a puddle or flail and scream until he put her down. Of course, she felt elated about this but she technically still had a reputation to uphold, although it's basically all worthless now but old habits.

"Um…just what do you think you're doing?" Helga asked, her voice a little shaky and quiet.

"Just as a precaution. You may be able to walk on your own but I don't want to take any chances,"

"Oh, I'm sure…and nothing to do with you just wanting to show off your amazing strength," Helga retorted back, her hold around Arnold's neck naturally loosened.

"Oh, drat. You caught me," Arnold joked, which made Helga giggle a little. He knew this made her nervous so it was nice that he was trying to ease her nerves a bit.

"Besides, don't tell me you're not secretly enjoying this," Arnold added as he gave a rather dangerous looking grin and wagged an eyebrow for good measure.

"Ok, I won't," Helga replied simply. Of course was enjoying the fact that she was in Arnold's arms and he was carrying her.

"We're not even going the same way," Helga added, not liking where this conversation was heading. Arnold was up to something and whatever it was she knew she probably wasn't in the mood for it.

"How do you know we're not?" Arnold retorted back.

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm going home and taking a much-needed nap!" Helga answered excitedly.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go," Arnold stated simply. That caused Helga to look up at Arnold with an amused but slightly suspicious expression.

"Oh, get real. Besides, your parents are probably getting worried," Helga reasoned.

"I can always call them and tell them where I'm going to be, you know?" Arnold asked rhetorically, grinning madly.

"Then, you were serious about wanting to come with me, weren't you?" Instead of answering, Arnold just gave Helga a shy but obvious look.

"Oh, criminy. Hasn't even been a whole hour and you're already hopelessly devoted to me!" Helga observed sarcastically and rolled her eyes, feigning disgust, though she was secretly loving that fact a little too much. In response, Arnold just rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed even though she was pretty much correct. However, Arnold could tell that the idea of going with her was making her a little uneasy. Dense or not, he felt like he was at least more observant when it came to Helga, at least he was now.

'I guess that's part of loving somebody,' Arnold pondered thoughtfully to himself.

"Seriously though, I can still walk. And besides, I think this is probably more than what my poor heart can take right now. We just got back to together. Maybe after we have been together for more than 5 seconds," Helga added after a few seconds had passed. Luckily, nobody was around to notice them, at least not yet but Helga knew it was inevitable. Arnold knew Helga secretly loved that he was carrying her but the fact that they were out in broad daylight was making her nervous. He knew she had reached her peak tolerance level with this and didn't want to push his luck anymore. Also, he knew he had to put her down soon because he respected her feelings. However, he figured he could fit one last joke in first just as a way to buy a few more seconds of her in his arms.

"Ok," Arnold answered as he started looking at his wrist, pretending that he was wearing a watch, as he began to quietly count to himself.

"Knock that off before _this_ actually lasts for only 5 seconds," Helga, who was referring to their relationship, had warned. She wasn't the least bit serious about it though. She was more nervous than anything else. Her stomach was seriously beginning to tie up in knots.

"Whatever you say, Helga. Whatever you say," Arnold replied with a few heartfelt chuckles. A second later, he slowly bent down and helped Helga get on her feet. Just like she said, she was able to walk again.

"Let's go. I'll walk you home," Arnold said as he then slowly took one of Helga's hands and interlaced her fingers with his. She gave a small blush in reaction but then smiled warmly as she began to walk with him.

…..

On the way to Helga's house, a thought suddenly entered Arnold's mind.

"Helga?" Arnold called, breaking the brief silence between them.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Is Olga still at your house?" Arnold asked.

"Probably, why?" Helga asked back with curiosity.

"Then I don't think going through the front door is a good idea. Won't she instantly spot you and want more 'baby sister bonding time'?"

"Oh my goodness, yes! Wow, why didn't I think of that? Well, ok, Mr. Evil Genius, what do you propose I do?"

"Exactly what you would do: find another way to get into your house but without being detected,"

"Right again, bucko. Normally, I can just use the front door but not when Olga's here!"

Arnold expression gradually became sad at Helga's small reference to how her parents basically didn't deserve the title because they basically acted like they were the furthest thing from parents, at least when Helga was concerned. Olga was a different story and Arnold knew that and couldn't help but feel bad for Helga. In a way, Arnold could relate but his parents were missing for over 8 years while Helga's were very much present, but only in the physical sense so their situations were not really the same thing when you got right down to it.

"Ok, well that means that the best way to get into my house is to climb the tree in my yard and sneak into my bedroom window," Helga added, not noticing the effect that her little reference to her home life had on Arnold.

"Or…" Arnold began but just trailed off, like he was trying his hand at being vague. His previous thoughts were long gone already.

" _Or_ …what? You got a better idea in that football-shaped head of yours?"

"Actually, I do. Why don't we instead go to my house and you can take a nap there? It's Olga-free and I know my parents would love to see you. Sometimes they wouldn't leave me alone with their questions about why I didn't seem to know much when they asked me about you," Arnold suggested.

"That sounds wonderful and I would like to say 'hi' to your family again. Did I ever tell you that you're a genius?" Helga asked teasingly but she also spoke out of adoration and meant every word as she agreed to Arnold's offer.

"Great!" Arnold grinned but then his expression drastically changed to one that was apologetic as something just occurred to him, "Although, now that I think about it, my family may not leave you alone while you're there,"

"Aw, forget it. It's the weekend. I'll just sleep in tomorrow," Helga rationalized with a shrug. Her reasoning put Arnold at ease.

"Well, it'll be good that you agreed. My parents may want to know why it took me so long to get home. And as you know, I'm not a good liar, though we won't really be lying but our story probably just needs to be missing most of the details. And of course, they'll be strength in numbers because you'll be with me," Arnold reasoned jokingly.

"Well, when you put it that way, looks like I'm doing you a solid. Just don't say I never did you any favors, football head," Helga agreed and winked at him. Her name for him was said more like a pet name than an insult that time around. Arnold noticed the change of tone and gave her a goofy smile in response.

"Whatever you say, Helga. Whatever you say," As Arnold said one of his go-to lines for the second time that day, he gave Helga's hand a little squeeze. The two teens kept walking together, side by side and hand in hand...

…

*One hour later*

 _'Hand in hand_

 _There we stood_

 _The perfect representations_

 _Of bad and good_

 _I will be ok with you letting me_

 _Down like that_

 _Because when we were apart_

 _Even though it did not seem like it_

 _Your name never left my heart_

 _And I am glad you held nothing back'_

"So…what do you thin—" Helga started to ask when she was interrupted in the sweetest of ways. Arnold's lips suddenly crashed into hers with so much passion it nearly took Helga's breath away. This action calmed her nerves instantaneously.

'Guess I got my answer,' Helga thought to herself in amusement as she returned Arnold's kiss.

The two teens were in Arnold's room, finally having a moment alone together after being questioned by Arnold's parents and harped on almost mercilessly by his grandpa and the boarders. Arnold was getting a head start on his homework while Helga was writing in her current pink book because she felt particularly inspired considering everything that has happened. Before Arnold enveloped her in kisses, he nearly demanded that he read what she had just written. Helga, who was a bit worried about his reaction because she just felt pretty vulnerable when it came to her poetry in general, decided that there was no time like the present and that there was no use in hiding her poems anymore anyways.

"Guess you're a fan, huh?" Helga jokingly asked in between kisses, almost sounding out of breath.

"Well, you know I don't have a very good 'poker face'," Arnold chuckled and shrugged, feigning innocence.

"I noticed," Helga observed with a laugh. She wrapped her arms around Arnold's neck and just spent a few seconds smiling adoringly at Arnold.

"Honestly, I think I was also just excited that you let me read one of your poems this time around instead of randomly finding one of your pink books and not knowing until years later that it was yours," Arnold clarified. At the end of his little confession, he flashed a knowing smirk in Helga's direction.

"You're not gonna let me forget that, will ya? Do you even still have that?" Helga asked curiously, though she had a feeling that he held onto that book.

In response, Arnold left Helga's arms, causing Helga to frown a little for a second but that was short-lived when Arnold suddenly stood up on his bed, resulting in a puzzled look to appear on Helga's face. He reached for something that was in one of the higher-level alcoves on that wall by his bed and then got back down to where he was sitting next to Helga again. Without saying a word, he presented Helga with the object now in his hands. Helga extended her hands, taking the object from him. Her motions were almost robotic since she was a bit preoccupied thanks to all those old memories deciding to just come hurdling towards her in full force.

"Criminy," Helga softly exclaimed as she examined the small, pink book in her hands. Arnold just patiently sat there and watched her with quiet curiosity, giving her time to process whatever she needed to sort out in that moment.

"I remember how panicked I felt when I found out that not only had I lost this book but it was in your possession. But honestly, I was more worried about the poem on the last page, which if you remember you never got to finish because I tore it out as you were reading it in front of everyone then turned it into a spitball and aimed it at you," Helga recalled kind of shyly. She was avoiding eye contact with Arnold out of habit. Those memories were so long ago. Helga had changed a lot since then but still she hated to be reminded of the times when she was basically a crazy person who should've been committed years ago. She also hated the reminders of the times when she was so horrible to Arnold, even though it eventually worked out. Eventually.

"Oh, yeah. I remember! Ok, now I definitely gotta hear about that poem now," Arnold stated, eager to get Helga's side of the story, which contained a bonus piece of information.

"Well, on the bus ride home, before I lost the book, I wrote a poem and it was about you, same old, same old. But that particular one was different. If I let you finish reading it, you would have noticed that if you put all the first letters of each line together, you'd get 'Helga'. So you see, in the end I figured that so long as you never got to finish that poem then it would all be ok. I wanted to reveal my secret on my own terms and not like that. You know, all the secrecy, lying, tricks, and the whole 'act' as you referred to it as really took a lot out of me," Helga confessed, still refusing to look Arnold in the eyes. She gave out a slow breath as she finished.

'I really don't want to go back to that ever again,' Helga thought solemnly. She hadn't much about it but now she realized how all her schemes and lies that she carried on was slowly depriving her of her energy.

Helga's thoughts were interrupted when she felt a hand on top of one of hers. She looked up and finally looked into Arnold's eyes. When she did, they showed her a particular look that was rarely given to her by others: one of acceptance. That look in Arnold's eyes nearly took Helga's breath away for the second time while in Arnold's room.

"And you don't have to hide anymore," Arnold promised, as if he was just reading Helga's mind. His tone was soft but firm and completely serious. Helga could tell that he meant every word and wasn't taking this sort of thing lightly.

As her way of accepting Arnold's promise, Hela gave Arnold the sincerest and most beautiful smile he had ever seen from her. The fact that that smile was reserved for him made it feel even more special to Arnold. He almost got lost in his own thoughts and nearly didn't notice Helga leaning towards him to bridge the gap between them. Luckily, Arnold snapped himself back into the present just in time to lean in, thereby meeting her in the middle and bridging the gap sooner. Their arms wrapped around each other for the third official time that day. Their lips came together and the two teens shared yet another kiss. Their future seemed like it was organizing itself right before them. It contained so many possibilities and promises of love, trust, adventure, hope, and most importantly acceptance.

 **A/N: Apparently, it's Shortaki Week in the Tumblrverse (Tumblr universe haha). Even though I just figured that out today and after already having this chapter nearly finished, that is one reason why I've been scrambling to get it done today! According to the information posted on Tumblr, I'm a day behind the Murphy's Law prompt, which seems really fitting for this chapter. However, this chapter doesn't follow the official rules (too long, not a one-shot, etc.) so I can't put it on Tumblr anyways, therefore who cares? This could technically work for today's Carpe Diem prompt in a way, though.**

 **That's the end of "Breaking Point", folks! Again, I really hope you liked this story! That classroom kiss was not planned but it was why I switched the rating to "T". Also, I hope you enjoyed both the little FTi and TJM references I made throughout the story! I'm very excited for the TJM movie and I guess that's why the idea for this story popped into my head.**

 **Also, here are the answers to those song references I mentioned: "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts from part 2 and "Hopelessly Devoted to You" performed by Olivia Newton-John in the movie musical ****_Grease_** **as loosely mentioned in part 3.**

 **Oh, and in case you were curious, you know that poem that Helga wrote near the end? I wrote that about 7 or 8 years ago! The first part is from the original poem while the rest was completely redone to make it work with the story.**

 **"The Wall Knows All" update: I've been working on chapter 8 and it's closer to being finished, though I still don't have an estimated date or anything. I'm not sure if there are still people wanting updates on that one but if so, I'm working on it!**

 **Until next time peoples!**

 **-Livyloozer**


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